Defenders of Children

Defenders of Children (DofC) is Arizona’s ONLY full service victim advocacy agency providing both behavioral health and legal services to clients, AT NO CHARGE, to the 96% of our clients who are low/no income women and children. We are extremely proud of this fact, and are honored to serve the community in this vital role. To our knowledge, we are also the Valley’s only legal advocacy agency providing direct representation to clients (meaning we litigate and actually represent our clients in court) who have the difficult task of facing their abuser, or their child’s abuser, in court. For many of our clients, this can be an emotionally and psychologically paralyzing effort. DofC’s legal department has also advocated for victims of family violence at the State Legislature, to work toward helping create policies that better protect survivors and provide improved access to resources. Engaging with and educating professionals in our community is one of our main initiatives. One of those efforts includes our annual, educational training to judges, lawyers, paralegals, school nurses and other mandated reporters, as well as mental health professionals of all kinds. 

Our Behavioral Health department employs top mental health professionals – therapists, counselors and social workers – who are trauma experts and have the forensic knowledge necessary to do this work. Our trauma therapists provide much needed services to adult, female, at-risk victims of sex trafficking through weekly support groups and individual counseling, utilizing specialized, therapeutic modalities vital for this population of women and children. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is diagnosed with almost every, single domestic violence, child abuse, and trafficking victim we serve. We are, at our core, domestic violence and child abuse (in all of its vile forms) advocates and activists. 

Our services are utilized by families, collaborating agencies, related victim-centered professionals and advocates, and those involved in the Family Court system. Our work is often at the request the Maricopa County Superior Court, Family Court division, and many other, referring agencies. Approximately 95% of our cases come to us from victimized mothers or grandmothers of abused and neglected children/grandchildren, and about 5% by both parents jointly. We provide services these clients need to protect themselves, their children, their livelihood, their ability to heal, move past their trauma, and THRIVE! The long-term impact of our work is evident, both in our VOCA data, program evaluations and quarterly client surveys Seeing clients come to us in emotional and legal shambles, then leaving us a year later as wholly new, stronger, more resilient, more empowered women and kiddos. THAT is the “proof in the pudding,” as they say.

DofC’s mission is to ensure abused, non-offending families live in a safe, nurturing environment, to educate the community on abuse and exploitation prevention and to end the intergenerational cycle of family and domestic violence. We were formed in 2007 as a grassroots effort with concerns to explore inadequacies within existing systems which protect children. Today, and for the past four years, we are partially federally funded by the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), under the U.S. Department of Justice.